


To sleep, perchance to dream

by hkandi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Community: kakairu_fest, Dreams and Nightmares, Fun horror...if that's a thing?, Happy Ending, Hatake Kakashi is Bad at Feelings, Horror, KakaIru Fest Summer 2020, M/M, Your horror is different than my horror, promise!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25809529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hkandi/pseuds/hkandi
Summary: Iruka has been having nightmares, and Kakashi offers to help him. But one set of dreams turns into another, and begins to affect their day to day interactions. For better, or for worse? Find out!
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Comments: 10
Kudos: 91
Collections: Nine Weeks of Summer 2020





	To sleep, perchance to dream

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Kakairu Fest Nine Weeks of Summer event, horror prompt.

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Iruka sighed, closed his eyes, and rubbed his temples.

"You don't look too good," someone said to him, and he opened his eyes to a masked face mere inches from his face.

He shrieked and jolted backwards in his chair, scrambling.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, and the offender straightened up and shrugged.

Kakashi held a scroll out to him. "Turning in a report?" 

Iruka rolled his eyes and grabbed the scroll. "And how late is this one?"

Kakashi shrugged again. "Time is but a construct..."

Iruka snorted. "So, over a month, I'm guessing."

"Maa, what's bothering you, sensei?" Kakashi said, leaning a hip on Iruka's desk.

"Nothing," Iruka said, reviewing the scroll.

"I don't believe that."

Iruka sighed and looked at the copy nin. "And what makes you say that, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi studied him and recited evidence, ticking them off on his fingers, one by one. "You're working late shifts here, later and more frequent than normal. You have the start of dark circles under your eyes. You're quite jumpy. And I haven't seen you at Ichiraku's in days."

Iruka frowned. "I didn't realize you focused on me so much..."

Kakashi gave him a closed eye smile. "You're my favorite sensei, why wouldn't I?"

Iruka laughed. "I'm the only teacher whose former students you tolerate, you mean."

Kakashi waved it off. "Forced tolerance, really, since they were assigned to me and passed the test. But, that was a year ago. Now, do you want to tell me what's bothering you or should I write to Naruto while he's away training? Make him worry about you?"

"I'm fine, but thank you," Iruka said, resuming his work.

"Dear Naruto," Kakashi began, taking a scroll out. "Please come home, Iruka is sick..."

"You don't have to," Iruka said, standing, trying to grab the scroll, but Kakashi was too fast for him.

"Iruka needs you home, to watch over him and nurse him back to health..."

"Stop that!"

"And while you're at it, please ask Master Jiraiya for an advanced copy of his next manuscript."

Iruka laughed but crossed his arms as he took his seat again in his chair. "Would you be writing for my benefit, or yours?"

"One and the same," Kakashi said. "Now, spill."

Iruka sighed. "It's silly..."

No answer, so he continued.

"I've been having nightmares," Iruka said. "Not, like, normal nightmares, like my parents dying, or missions, or worrying about Naruto or anything." He nervously rubbed the scar on his face. "Like, I need to fight off monsters, but I can't seem to win."

Kakashi looked at him in silence for a moment. "That's all?"

Iruka rolled his eyes. "I'm an adult with no major stressors at the moment, so, yes, monsters in my dreams every night is minor, I get it."

"That's not what I meant," Kakashi clarified. "Use your strengths. Pick some jutsus, or seals, barriers, weapons, anything in your arsenal. Kami, dream of me if it helps," Kakashi said, winking at him, and Iruka blushed.

"Teasing won't help," Iruka protested.

Kakashi shook his head. "I'm serious. Dream of me to help. I'd love to show up in your dreams, sensei," Kakashi said, winking at Iruka again. 

Before Iruka could respond, someone poked their head into the missions office and asked him to help with filing.

"Sweet dreams," Kakashi said, before leaving.

Iruka shook his head. "You already show up in my dreams," he sighed, before moving to help his coworker.

______

Iruka looked in his bathroom mirror.

"You can do this. Kakashi was right. Everything in my arsenal, and even him. I can do that, I can dream of the copy nin. He'll show up, and help me, and then I can get some sleep. Right? Right!"

And so, he finished some sleepytime tea, brushed his teeth, and burrowed into his blankets, focusing on his breathing to relax.

"I can do this," he murmured, as sleep crept in.

Iruka opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"Same place as always," he sighed. Looking around, he took stock of the situation.

He was in his full shinobi uniform, in a dimly lit, bare room, facing a front door and two windows, one on either side of the door. It was the only door, only entry point in the room.

Outside, it was either dusk or dawn, he was never sure.

"I can do this," he told himself, taking a deep breath before opening the door, and stepping outside.

Same as always. He stepped onto a small light grey wooden porch, and the door closed behind him, locking. In front of him was a patch of grass, about twenty feet square, and surrounded by tall shrubs on three sides, other than the one room shack he had just left.

He sighed.

And heard another sigh.

That was new...

Turning his head to the right, his eyes widened.

"Kakashi?"

"Yo," the copy nin said, laying on a bench, reading, moving to a half sitting up position.

"What are you doing here?" Iruka asked, sitting next to him.

Kakashi shrugged. "I suppose you brought me here, after our discussion earlier? Good to know you dream about me after all," he leered at Iruka, who laughed.

"My dreams are so weird," Iruka sighed. "So now I'm dreaming about monsters and flirty shinobi, great."

"Just the one flirty shinobi, or I'll be jealous," Kakashi said, and Iruka snorted.

"So far!"

They sat in silence for a moment.

"So," Kakashi said.

"So," Iruka answered, "they'll be here soon."

"Monsters?"

"Monsters."

Kakashi nodded. Iruka was surprised the man wasn't teasing him more, but if he was Iruka's in-dream Kakashi, it made sense this version might be more...serious?

"How many?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka frowned as he thought about it. "I've seen five. Bigger than me, both body and height. Wearing fur, like animal hats, draped in furs...horns on their heads...they may be animals, I'm not sure. But not true animals."

Kakashi nodded again. "And what happens exactly?"

Iruka braced his hands on his knees, squeezing slightly as he talked, looking at the ground rather than Kakashi. "They come out, I can hear them first, but it took me a bit to see where they come from. They come out, I fight. I...I might get two or three, but the fourth and fifth ones, they come from somewhere I can't see...and they get me. I lay on the ground, looking at the sky, and start to fade away. Then I wake up, in a cold sweat. Maybe three hours will have passed since I fell asleep, and I don't go back to sleep."

Kakashi studied him. "How long has this been going on for?"

"Two weeks," Iruka mumbled. "And I don't know why."

Kakashi shrugged. "Well, one thing at a time. Since you dreamed me here, what do you want me to do?"

Iruka was surprised. "I'm, well, I'm not sure? I didn't think I'd actually dream you here. Umm...I guess, well, help? Look for the last two?"

Kakashi nodded. "Sounds good."

They stood and walked to the grass just in front of the porch, and a rustling, scratching sound could be heard in the distance, growing closer.

"They're coming," Iruka said, turning to Kakashi...but seeing only empty space.

He whirled around, looking for the copy nin, but there was no sign anyone else had ever been there. 

"Kakashi?" Iruka called out. "Kakashi!"

No response, but the rustling was growing closer.

Iruka cursed and pulled out kunai, getting into a defensive position.

"Here we go again," he sighed.

_____

In his own bed, Kakashi woke up with a start, and looked around at his bedroom.

"What....what just happened?" he said aloud, blinking both eyes, but finding nothing strange.

Kakashi rubbed his face and flopped back onto his bed.

"What is going on?"  
_______

Kakashi avoided Iruka for two days, but the dreams continued.

Kakashi would suddenly find himself outside a small cabin, laying on a bench, with Icha Icha open. He couldn't go anywhere until Iruka came out, so he sat and read for a while, which was pleasant enough.

The younger man would eventually emerge, they would talk about why Kakashi was there, and start to get a plan, but Kakashi would suddenly, and without warning, abandon Iruka.

At least in their short time together at night, they discussed that Kakashi continued to show up.

"I wonder why I keep dreaming about you," Iruka mused on the third night. "I mean, you leave before the action starts, which I know isn't like you..."

"I feel like I'm abandoning you," Kakashi sighed. "There I go again, letting my friend die."

"This is a dream, my dream," Iruka corrected him. "Neither of us have any choice in the matter, but if we did, I'd assume it's my call for you to leave. Maybe...maybe I don't want you to die too?"

They sat in silence for a moment.

"I don't think this is just your dream," Kakashi finally said. "I wake up knowing about this."

Iruka turned to look at him, surprised. "What?"

Kakashi nodded. "I can remember this when I wake up."

"Why haven't you said anything?" Iruka cried.

"Maa, what would I say? Hey, I'm in your dreams? Not like we've seen each other during the day, anyway."

Iruka huffed. "That's true, I suppose, but still..."

The rustling began, and they sighed and stood. 

"If you leave again, I'm tracking you down in real life tomorrow," Iruka told him.

"Sensei, are you asking me out?"

Iruka blushed. "Shut up," he said, looking away, but when he turned back, sure enough, the older man was gone.

Iruka shook his head and reached into his weapons pouch.

"I'm not alone..." he said, a small smile on his face.

_______

Kakashi spent the next day debating avoiding Iruka again or not, but he had to go turn in another late report he found when moving his sofa, and he figured if they talked about the dream, it would distract the other man from the six month old report.

Hopefully...

To try to improve his chances further, Kakashi grabbed takeout on his way over to the missions office, knowing Iruka's schedule and that he was one of two shinobi working that evening.

As Kakashi entered the room, which was empty, he caught Iruka's eye and watched as Iruka told the other desk worker they could clock out early, which they did before he could change his mind.

"Evening, sensei," Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-san," Iruka said. 

"Maa, I like it better when you drop the formalities," Kakashi said.

"I haven't done that with you," Iruka said, frowning.

"Yes you have, the past three nights," Kakashi casually said, putting the takeout on the desk, handing a shocked Iruka the scroll, and pulling up a chair for himself.

Iruka stared at him. "What?"

Kakashi settled in the chair and began to unpack dinner. "What?"

"The past three nights..." Iruka whispered. "You...it...it was real?!"

Kakashi passed Iruka food and utensils, and nodded. "In a dream sense, I suppose so. I had the same dream, at least."

Kakashi began to eat, not moving his mask, and nodded at Iruka to do the same.

Iruka robotically opened his food container and began to eat, staring at nothing in particular just over Kakashi's shoulder.

"You....me....I don't...I don't understand..." Iruka said, around a mouthful of rice.

Kakashi shrugged. "I don't either. Maybe it's something left over from a mission...or someone's cursing you...I don't know. But we've got a plan to devise."

"What?"

Kakashi nodded. "I think we can manipulate it. Fight the dream rules, or whatever they are."

"But you leave," Iruka commented.

"Maybe now that we're talking, we can figure out how I can stay. In the movies there's always ways to fight in dreams."

Iruka frowned. "This isn't a movie."

"No, but it is a dream. It doesn't hurt to try," Kakashi offered, and Iruka found he couldn't argue.

They ate and planned, discussing tactics to try.

Time passed, and the food was gone, and Iruka's shift was almost up.

"I'll just finish here and head home," Iruka said.

"Shall I walk you home?" Kakashi asked, but Iruka shook his head.

"I don't think that's necessary, but thank you," Iruka said, and Kakashi began to head to the door. "And, thank you, for everything tonight," Iruka called out, and Kakashi gave him a salute.

Just as Kakashi was almost out the door, Iruka called out.

"But don't think you can get away with such a late scroll again!"

_________

They were not as successful as they would have hoped that night, but they continued to meet daily to plan, review, and even do research.

"I think I have a simple answer," Kakashi said one day.

"Oh?" Iruka asked, as they were at lunch. "Do tell."

"I'll share tonight, in the dream," Kakashi said. "So you don't overthink it..."

Iruka had tried to get it out of the older man, but he wouldn't relent.

As they parted ways some time later, Kakashi turned to him.

"You're looking better these days, more...brighter. More you."

Iruka shrugged slightly. "I guess? I do feel better." He laughed. "Maybe just having someone to talk to about it is helping most of all. But it doesn't hurt to have the great Kakashi Hatake fighting monsters in my dreams!"

"It's my pleasure," Kakashi said, with a small bow. "See you in my dreams," he said, as they began to head in their respective directions.

Soon, they found themselves sitting on the bench, on the porch, some time that night.

"So, what's your grand plan?" Iruka asked.

"This is a dream," Kakashi said. "So, just remember that."

Iruka looked at him, an unimpressed look on his face. "What?"

"Well, remember when you first told me about this? What was it, like two weeks ago now?"

Iruka nodded, and Kakashi continued.

"I suggested you dream of me, and you did. So, we just have to regain control of this," Kakashi said, gesturing to the world around them. "It's a dream, and it's our dream."

Iruka nodded slowly. "So, if we focus on control of it, we can manipulate it?"

"I think so," Kakashi said. "Worth a try, no?"

Iruka nodded.

The rustling began.

"Here we go," Iruka said, as they stood and moved.

The rustling approached.

"I can feel a pull," Kakashi suddenly said. He ran through a few hand seals, and was still for a moment.

"And?" Iruka asked, watching him.

Kakashi looked at him, tilting his head. "It left. And, hey, I'm still here!"

Iruka scratched his chin, shocked. "That's...you're....I mean, wow! I think you're right!"

The rustling grew closer, louder. Iruka pulled out his kunai.

"Sensei," Kakashi prompted him. "Take control."

Iruka looked over, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Do you only want kunai?"

"But..." Iruka began. "That's all that's in my weapons pouch..."

"Control all this. Do you want something else?"

Iruka bit his lip as he thought about it. The rustling was growing closer...but...

Just as the rustling reached the edge of the shrubs, Iruka grabbed a katana out of thin air.

"Now we're talking!" Kakashi shouted, pleased, and watched Iruka gracefully wield the new weapon as he fought mysterious, large, furry, horned...things.

Kakashi had tried to help, but found he was limited by a barrier of some kind. Not that Iruka needed his help, with the new weapon and some new confidence, it seemed.

Five monsters were gone, and Iruka was panting but alive.

He turned to Kakashi. "What happened?"

Kakashi shrugged, looking like he was leaning on an invisible wall. "I can't get out."

Iruka snorted. "Didn't you figure out how to manipulate this?"

Kakashi shrugged again. "I did, and I tried. Maybe this barrier is yours and not mine? And I can't manipulate what's yours?"

Iruka frowned as he thought about this, placing his hand on the empty air in front of Kakashi. It hummed, and felt warm, but certainly like his.

Iruka blinked, surprised. 

"Why would I trap you?" he wondered out loud. He shook his head and dispersed it, and Kakashi stumbled as his leaning post dissipated.

"Beats me," Kakashi said. He rolled his shoulders and stretched. "I think I'm waking up in real life," he said, as he started to flicker, before leaving completely.

Iruka blinked again, and looked around. He was alone, and it was quiet, peaceful.

He pursed his lips and walked to the porch, trying the door.

Still locked.

The sky was a hazy grey, no hint of what time of day or night it might be.

Iruka walked the perimeter, but he couldn't get through the shrubs. He considered summoning something to help, but felt barriers, and so decided to forgo that route.

Sighing, he layed down on the bench where he usually found Kakashi, staring at the unassuming sky.

"Strange," he thought to himself, before his eyes started to close.

_______

Kakashi was called to a mission, and so was away from the village, but would still show up in Iruka's dreams, when their sleep schedules seemed to align.

He would, as usual, be trapped by Iruka's barriers, but would shout out encouragement.

It was easier now, for Iruka, as there were no extra monsters, and they did not change their course of attack.

After the third time of Kakashi staying in the dream but being trapped, Iruka was poised with his katana.

"Maa, while it's fun to watch you with that," Kakashi said, leaning against an invisible wall and reading Icha Icha, "you should try something different."

"Maybe," Iruka agreed. "Any preferences?"

"Fire?" Kakashi suggested. "It would look cool."

Iruka laughed. "Is that how you fight? Use what looks cool?"

"It doesn't hurt, sometimes," Kakashi admitted. "Try it."

"I don't really have fire chakra," Iruka said, as the first wave of monsters approached.

He took them down fairly easily, waiting for the last two, who would arrive a minute later.

"The real you might not," Kakashi said, "but this you could. Just, have fire chakra," he reminded the teacher.

Iruka considered this, and nodded. "Sure, why not?"

They could hear the next monsters coming, and Iruka took a deep breath and ran through some hand seals, and released a medium sized fire ball, enough to take down the fourth monster.

The fifth one was missed by the fire ball, and Iruka reached into his weapons pouch, grabbed kunai, and took it down.

Panting, he turned to Kakashi, who gave him an eye smile.

"Nice job," the copy nin said. "Ah, my teammate is waking me, got to go!"

Iruka watched him leave, and took a deep breath, turning to survey the area.

"Change my chakra, huh?" he said, running a hand through his hair. He nodded. "Sure...why not?"

_________

"Where's your boyfriend?" Izumo asked, after Kakashi had been gone for about a week.

"What?" Iruka asked, looking up from his filing.

"You know, Hatake?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Iruka said, rolling his eyes. 

"Well, I know the two of you have been hanging out an awful lot, eating out a lot, always talking," Izumo teased. "And since then, you've been looking like you've gotten better sleep."

Iruka laughed. "It's nothing like that."

"Are you sure? The way you look at him, the way he looks at you...people are talking..." Izumo said, as he grabbed some scrolls and began to leave the archive room they were in. 

"Just saying..."

Iruka watched his friend leave, shaking his head before resuming his work.

"People think we're dating?" he said softly, as he filed. "Nah..."

But, he had to admit, Izumo was right. They were spending a lot of time together, or had been, before Kakashi was called to a mission.

Not that Iruka was complaining, he had a crush on the man for how long now?

"I wonder..." Iruka said, pausing mid-file. "My dream barrier...."

He shook his head. "That's not it....I think?"

_____

Kakashi didn't show up in his dreams for the next three nights.

It was strange, for Iruka to be alone in his dream again, but it also gave him time to work on his plan of attack.

It also, however, gave him cause to worry. He tried to tell himself that Kakashi probably just wasn't sleeping at night like he was, as happens in the field, and not that something had happened to the other man.

Still, Iruka was grateful when, on the fourth night, a familiar figure was reading on the porch's bench.

"Kakashi!" Iruka cried. "You're back!"

"Here I am," the copy nin said, sitting up to give Iruka space. "Did you miss me?"

Iruka laughed but blushed. "Maybe. I was worried...since you're on a mission..." he said, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck, nervously.

"Sensei, I'm flattered," Kakashi laughed. "But no need to worry. I should be back in a day or two."

Iruka nodded, and they sat in a comfortable silence until the rustling began.

"I did some work while you were gone," Iruka said, standing and stepping off the porch. "Some work, some thinking."

"Oh?"

"I have a new attack, more effective," Iruka said. He turned to look at the other man. "And...I think I know why you end up in a barrier."

"Well, now I'm extra curious," Kakashi said, standing. "Do tell."

Iruka laughed and turned away, walking into the middle of the grass. "Let me show you what I can do now," he said, stretching his fingers. "You might as well stay there."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, but remained on the porch, putting his hands in his pockets.

The monsters soon arrived, and Iruka ran through hand seals, kneeling and slamming his hands on the ground.

"Earth release!"

A large hole opened up, swallowing the monsters, before closing and resuming its grassy appearance.

"Nice," Kakashi mused. "And so like you, to cover it with grass again and not just leave it as a dirt surface."

Iruka smiled. "That's not all I've been working on."

The last two monsters soon approached.

"Fire style, fire dragon jutsu!"

Kakashi watched as a large, bright orange fire dragon appeared behind Iruka, flying over his head and entwining around first one, then another monster, burning them to a crisp, before circling back to Iruka.

Iruka held out a hand, and the dragon seemed to nuzzle into it, before disappearing.

He turned to Kakashi, a smile on his face. "I just perfected it last night. What do you think?"

Kakashi was speechless. "I think that was incredible! You believed in your ability to have any chakra, and made fire mimick your water chakra. Beautiful!"

Iruka's smile widened as he returned to the porch. "Thank you! I couldn't have done it if you hadn't suggested manipulating my dream."

"But," Kakashi began, "if you're able to fight much easier now, what happens next?"

Before either could say anything more, the door behind them opened with a loud click.

They looked at each other, before turning to it.

"Well, that's new," Iruka said. "Shall we?"

"After you," Kakashi said, motioning.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "My dream, my neck on the line, eh?" he said, as he opened the door, and stepped through.

"What the ---" he said, pausing. "Why are we in my classroom?"

Kakashi followed him in, the door closing behind them. They tried it, but it was locked. As were the windows.

Nothing was amiss, they soon discovered, and outside it now appeared to be daylight.

"This is strange," Iruka said, sitting in the chair behind his desk, as Kakashi sat on the edge of the desk itself, to his right. "Why would my nightmare turn into my classroom?"

"Maybe you're finally realizing how terrifying a classroom of pre-genin can be?" Kakashi teased, and Iruka laughed but shook his head.

"I don't think so, and I realized that years ago," Iruka retorted.

They sat in silence, looking around. 

"I just don't understand," Iruka sighed, breaking the silence. "Wait, something's happening...." he said, eyes wide. "I'm waking up...I guess I'll see you later?" he said, before he left.

Kakashi nodded, and looked around as he was left alone in the classroom.

"Well," he said out loud to himself. "This is a new development..."

_________

Kakashi returned to the village soon, and saw Iruka when he was leaving Hokage Tower to turn in his report. He invited Iruka to join him for dinner, but Iruka had to pass as he was about to head to his missions desk shift.

Iruka had an excuse to not meet him for a meal the next time, and the time after that.

Neither mentioned it when they met up in the dream each night.

By now, they had fallen into a new routine. Iruka would easily defeat the monsters, and they would be trapped in the classroom by themselves, with no disturbances, not even any stressors.

And, since they couldn't leave until they had woken up in real life, they began to just talk. For hours, it seemed.

"Don't you think this is strange?" Iruka eventually asked. "No monsters, no obstacles, nothing bad happens. Nothing happens, actually." He frowned. "This doesn't seem like much of a nightmare. I would have thought something would have happened by now..."

Kakashi shrugged. "Being at work after hours must be bit of a nightmare," he suggested, and Iruka laughed, and the conversation moved on.

In the dream, they seemed okay, but in real life, things seemed different.

After Iruka passed on eating together a fourth time, and had also scurried out of the missions office when Kakashi entered, the copy nin brought it up that night as they sat in the empty classroom in their dreams.

"You're avoiding me," he said, and Iruka looked at him, surprised.

"What?"

"You're. Avoiding. Me. Why?"

Iruka sighed and looked out the window. He shrugged. "I thought we should have some space," he said quietly.

"Space?"

Iruka shrugged and looked back at Kakashi. "While you were on your last mission, I found out people were...talking. About us. Since we were starting to spend more time together while we talked about the monsters."

Kakashi studied him. "And?"

"What do you mean 'and'?!" Iruka shouted. "I got asked if we were dating! That's kind of a big deal!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Is it?"

Iruka sighed. "Stop playing mind games. I know you like your privacy, and for them to even think anything like that, well, I wanted to try to get people to stop."

"So, if people think we're dating, I wouldn't like it?" Kakashi asked, and Iruka nodded. "Why?"

Iruka huffed and ran a hand through his hair. "Kami, Kakashi, I don't know! Because, you're you, a top jonin, and I work the missions desk and teach kids? Because people still talk about how I exploded at you ahead of the chunin exams last year? Because...well...just because!"

Kakashi studied him in silence again, the visible part of his face unreadable.

"I wouldn't mind," he said after a moment.

"What?"

"I said, I wouldn't mind."

Iruka rolled his eyes. "You don't have to be nice about it."

"Maa, Iruka, you know me better than that, I'm not nice if I don't want to be. I...ah...I wouldn't mind if people think we're dating."

Iruka's eyes widened. "You...wouldn't?"

"No. Not unless...unless you didn't like it? I mean, I know I have certain reputations that might not look great when next to an upstanding teacher and member of the community like yourself..."

Iruka paused, then laughed. "I don't care about things like that."

They sat in silence for a moment. 

"So," Iruka said. "We can hang out again, and people can think what they want?"

Kakashi looked away for a moment before speaking. "Sure. Or...we give them a reason to think we're dating."

Iruka blushed. "What were you thinking?"

Kakashi turned back to him. "We start dating? I mean, we have been spending a lot of time together, so would it be that different?"

Iruka felt his face heat more, but smiled. "Probably not. But there's only one way to find out. Dinner tonight? Or tomorrow night, I'm not sure what time it is," he said laughing. "Dinner the day after the day we went to sleep?"

Kakashi nodded. "I look forward to it."

Suddenly, the door clicked and swung open, and they both turned to it, startled.

"What happened?" Iruka asked, and Kakashi shrugged. "But...the door only did that when we had fully beaten my nightmare...and only then..."

He looked at Kakashi, who shrugged again, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Iruka frowned at him. "Kakashi, was this part your dream? Being in this room?"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and gave an eye smile. "Maa, I don't know what you're talking about?"

Iruka crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Is that why it was always just us?"

"Maa...."

"Kakashi!"

"Fine, fine," Kakashi said. "But first, can I tell you how nice it is for you to speak so informally to me?" he said with an eye smile, and Iruka rolled his eyes. "And...yes...maybe this has been a nightmare of mine."

Iruka looked surprised. "What was?"

"Being here, with you," Kakashi said, and Iruka looked hurt. "Ah...that came out wrong. I meant, seeing you here, working, alone. I'd come in, we'd talk, I'd finally ask you out, but you would say no. Each time."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"I didn't know," Iruka eventually said, softly. "I'm sorry."

Kakashi shrugged, but remained silent.

"How long has it been going on for?" Iruka asked.

"A while..."

Iruka laughed softly and shook his head. "Well, if you had asked me out in real life, you wouldn't have had to have this nightmare for long," he said, winking when Kakashi looked at him, a startled expression on the visible part of the copy nin's face. Iruka held out a hand, and Kakashi gently accepted it. "Let's go," Iruka said, leading them out of the room.

______

They were walking hand in hand the following night, in real life this time, stomachs comfortably full from dinner, as Kakashi escorted Iruka to his missions desk shift.

"This is nice," Iruka said, and Kakashi agreed.

"Better than my dreams," the copy nin said, and Iruka laughed.

"And to think, monsters helped us finally get together!"

"I wonder if they'll show up again tonight," Kakashi mused.

"If they do, we'll be ready," Iruka said. "But, I think both of our nightmares, those ones at least, are fully resolved."

They paused outside Hokage Tower.

"I had fun on our date," Iruka said, squeezing Kakashi's hand before letting go. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Kakashi nodded, and Iruka smiled and began to head in.

"See you in my dreams!" Kakashi called out, and Iruka laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and suggestions welcomed!
> 
> Let's connect, I'm on [tumblr](https://hkandiu.tumblr.com/)


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